An unidentified man has blown himself up at the headquarters of state-owned television in Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia.

Abkhazia's de facto Interior Minister Aslan Kobakhia said the man detonated an explosive device early on October 17 at the entrance of the building housing the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Corporation in the regional capital, Sukhumi.

Investigators are on the scene, trying to identify the man who was killed by the blast.

It is not clear if the man wanted to commit suicide in public or intended to target the broadcasting corporation's headquarters.

Abkhazia, along with South Ossetia, is a Russian-backed separatist region that has declared independence from Georgia.

Russia recognized the two regions as independent states following a short war with Tbilisi in August 2008.